1) Technical Field
The present invention relates to a display device comprising at least one display unit as well as an illuminating device particularly for illuminating the surroundings of an edge area of the at least one display unit. The invention further relates to a method for operating such a display device as well as an entertainment machine comprising such a display device.
2) Description of the Related Art
In the case of entertainment machines, such as, for example, gaming devices, gambling terminals and other entertainment devices or also in the case of large-surface display devices, such as public viewing displays or conference room displays, it is sometimes advantageous, to use a plurality of separately embodied display units, which are arranged next to one another or on top of one another, instead of using a single, large-area display unit. By means of display units, which on principle have standard formats, it is also possible through this to create display devices of other formats, without having to use expensive custom products for this purpose. On the other hand, a plurality of separate, independently operable display units can also be advantageous, for example in the case of entertainment machines, so as to be able to display different image contents without extensive split screen control of an individual screen, for example so as to be able to present a game content on one display unit and additional information, such as stakes, rules and the like or also a second game content—for example an additional game—on another display unit.
The display units themselves can hereby in each case form assemblies, which are independent per se, which form display assemblies, which can be mounted or exchanged independently from one another, respectively, and/or which have power supply units, which are embodied independently from one another, and/or control systems, which are embodied independently from one another, which control the display elements, which are generated on the respective display unit. In the context of the application at hand, a display unit can in particular be a screen, wherein a screen, which forms a display unit, can be embodied so as to be flat in terms of a common flat screen or curved in terms of an electronic screen, which simulates reels, for example.
In the context of the invention at hand, separate display units are thus in particular independently functioning display assemblies, which have display surfaces, which are visible or perceivable, respectively, independently from one another and which in each case have an independent spatially-physically defined shape, which can for example be delimited by means of a frame or a housing. The display fields of the separate display units may be arranged next to one another so as to be offset at right angles to the viewing direction and/or on top of one another and, if applicable, also at a distance from one another, wherein the display fields or display field or image sections, respectively, of the separate display units, which are visible from the observation point or device operating position, are preferably located outside of one another, in particular in such a way that a display field, which is visible from the device operating position or image section of a display unit, respectively, is located outside of the display field or image section, respectively, of the respective other display unit.
In the case of such separate display units, however, the illustrated image contents or the display surfaces, respectively, can often not be placed edge-to-edge without a gap, but a gap-shaped space remains between the displayable image contents or the display surfaces, respectively, so that the division into separate display units remains clearly visible to the observer and that a harmonious transition between the image contents, which is more pleasant for the visual perception, is not present between the image contents, which may also lead to symptoms of fatigue for the observer and for his eyes. Such a gap between the separate display units substantially results from the fact that the separate display units often have frames, which surround the actual display surface, on which image contents can be displayed, all around, so that the display surface does not reach all the way to the circumferential delimitation of the display unit. Due to the fact that the display units also have separate housings, the space required for the housing walls also results in a certain spacing of the display units or the display surfaces thereof, respectively.
In the case of gaming machines, it has already been proposed to arrange the display units so as to be staggered one behind the other, see, for example, WO 2009/033615, whereby the edge or border area, respectively, of the rear screen is covered and is no longer visible. However, the border area of the front screens remains as sight barrier or spacing, respectively, between the display surfaces.
In the case of television sets, it has already been proposed to make the actual display surface appear to be bigger, in that light sources are arranged on the borders of the screen, which radiate onto a wall located behind the screen and which illuminate this wall in color, so that the screen obtains a light enclosure in the manner of a halo. This circumferential illumination, which at times is identified as “ambient light”, is in particular effective in the case of a wall mounting of flat screens, because the light sources can be hidden behind the screen borders, so that the observer cannot look directly into the light sources. To intensify the visual enlarging effect of such an illumination, the light color of the light emitted onto the wall is thereby adapted to the screen display, i.e. the predominant color in the border areas of the display surface of the screen, see WO 2008/142639 A1 and EP 1379082 B1. It is furthermore known from EP 1994801 to hereby not only consider the colors of predetermined image blocks, which are displayed on the display surface, but to also evaluate or weight them, respectively, differently, in order to be able to more strongly adapt the color of the ambient lighting to more important image blocks. From the image signals, by means of which the screen is controlled, moving objects are identified for this purpose in the screen display, in order to be able to consider the color thereof differently for the ambient lighting.
Due to the fact that not only one color is routinely displayed in a certain image block of a screen, an average color can be formed from the plurality of the displayed colors or a color spectrum, which characterizes the image block, can be determined, as is shown, for example, in DE 10 2007 004 834 A1. The light spectra emitted by individual light sources of pixels, respectively, are thereby captured and are tuned individually in such a way that a resulting overall spectrum at least approximately, corresponds to a desired light spectrum and thus to a desired color.
It is further known from WO 2007/113754 to illuminate the environment of a screen not only in a diffusely colored manner, but to thereby generate light patterns, which are adapted to the screen display.
The present invention is based on the object of creating an improved display device, an improved entertainment machine comprising such a display device, as well as an improved method of the above-mentioned type, which avoid disadvantages of the prior art, and to further develop the latter in an advantageous manner. In particular, a harmonious, visual transition, which is as smooth as possible, it to be obtained between the display unit and the supplementary border or ambient illumination, without having to interfere with the complex control of the display unit and a simple retrofitting of the supplementary ambient lighting is to be made possible.